Villas-Boas backs Terry to play on

JOHN TERRY yesterday looked certain to lead out Chelsea in their London derby against Arsenal after Andre Villas-Boas insisted he had no concerns about his captain’s state of mind.

Blues boss Villas-Boas reiterated his full backing for Terry amid the Football Association and police probes into whether the England skipper racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during last Sunday’s Barclays Premier League game at Loftus Road.

Terry, who has categorically denied the allegations made against him, will make his first public appearance today since the race row erupted and Villas-Boas was adamant the 30-year-old was ready to do so.

“I see no reason why not,” Villas-Boas said, insisting he had no fears about Terry playing.

“Not in the sense of his state of mind — never.”

Villas-Boas also denied the saga had been a distraction for his team as they look to close the six-point gap to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

“I don’t think, for us, it’s been a distraction,” said Villas-Boas, whose side beat Everton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night without Terry.

“We haven’t lost too much focus on the situation because there is nothing to lose focus on.”

Villas-Boas reiterated that the race row had all been “a big misunderstanding”.

Asked if it had become a wider issue than Terry’s word against Ferdinand’s, he added: “I don’t know what it’s become.

“For me, it’s the end of the matter and it’s under FA investigation and hopefully we can put an end to it.”

Ferdinand has already made more than one public appearance since Sunday and admitted it had been a “crazy” week.

The 26-year-old was reportedly interviewed by the FA on Thursday and was expected to contradict Terry’s version of events.

But QPR refused to confirm that and issued a blanket ban on questions regarding the controversy at their press conference to preview their match at White Hart Lane yesterday.

QPR new media manager Paul Morrissey told journalists: “Just to reiterate, this is to talk about Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

“We are not here to talk about an ongoing FA investigation.”

Rangers boss Neil Warnock was also asked what he thought of Chelsea’s handling of the situation, to which he retorted: “I am only bothered about QPR, to be honest.

“That is for you to ask other people.

“There will be a statement, no doubt, at some stage.”